Today was a very busy—but wonderful—day. After Notre Dame and Laduree, we went to go eat our pastries somewhere. We looked for a park but ended up finding the courtyard of the Louvre/Palais Royale. We just relaxed there and ate our pastries. How cool is that? Then I walked all the way through the Tuileries to get to L’Orangerie. Along the way, I smelt a wonderful garden of lavender. I saw the giant Monet canvases at L’Orangerie and then continued on to the Champs-Elysees. I walked the length of it to l’Arc de Triomphe. After that, it was time to take the metro closer to home. I found Victor Hugo’s house and saw his apartments. This evening, we had our farewell dinner. Our food was delicious and we had such an entertaining time. One of our professors presented each of us with a tacky souvenir to represent some aspect about us from the past month in class; it was hilarious. I can’t believe I leave this city which I love so much in only a few hours!
Nbd. Just a pastry (giant pistachio macaroon with fresh raspberries and strawberries) from the place (Laduree) that invented macaroons!
This morning I went inside Notre Dame with a few other girls. We also climbed all the way up to the giant bell that Quasimodo rang in «The Hunchback of Notre Dame». It was so cool to see everything, and the view of the city was phenomenal.
I learned that lesson last night when I ordered a limonade and it was slightly sweetened sparkling water. The French word for lemonade is citronnade or lemon pressé (squeezed lemons). Hilary and I finally satisfied our lemonade craving this evening when we bought the only bottle of lemonade that we saw at Monoprix. It was delicious. Madame said she is going to buy us a bottle for tomorrow. Tonight after dinner, she made us homemade herbal tea with herbs she had taken from her garden in the south of France. I’m way too jealous of her life. In French, thé means black tea but tisane is the word for herbal tea; it’s very useful that they have a clear way of distinguishing the two. Madame said that her favorite tea from the states is Sleepytime—the same one my parents love—but they don’t have it in France so she always buys it when she goes to Amsterdam. Wish I had known that in advance so I could’ve brought her a bunch. The factory where they make Sleepytime is less than an hour away from my home in America!
Today we went to the French Senate after class. It was hot outside. Ridiculously hot. Think Texas hot, but in France where it is normally kind of cool and mild outside. We were dying. The Senate was neat in the sense that it is so beautiful inside. We watched a little bit of the proceedings, but it felt just like Congress except in French. When we walked into one of the rooms, Colton said something like, “Why is every room in France beautiful?” It’s one of those rhetorical questions that defines some of the contrasts between France and America, both now and in the past.
This was our last day of classes and we have final exams tomorrow. Hilary and I are leaving soon to go study at a cafe with some friends. We had a nice fresh dinner with Madame—our penultimate dinner with her! I am definitely going to miss her delicious cooking. Today she brought us a whole bowl full of apricots from the South of France and another full of figs. She picked the figs from her tree this morning before returning to Paris. How cool is that? I had never eaten a fresh fig before, but it was so good that I had two! Another fig-related food item I love here is this goat cheese with figs that Madame buys. You’re supposed to spread it on bread, but it’s good enough to just eat plain; I love it! Madame also got some eggplant from her garden and is going to make us ratatouille tomorrow. Even more exciting, she picked some herbs this morning and is going to make homemade tea tonight. I’m just a little bit jealous of her life—at least of her awesome garden in the south! Mmmm…I love the fresh fruits and vegetables in France.
